Additionally, as part of the Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute, in October 2019 the United States began imposing additional, World Trade Organization (WTO)-sanctioned tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of certain U.S. imports from the EU.. Addressing food and agricultural issues in the negotiations remains important to U.S. exporters given the sizable and growing U.S. trade deficit with the EU in agricultural products.. As reported in the press, statements by some USDA officials have suggested that selected SPS barriers as well as GIs would need to be addressed by the trade talks.. As these types of practices are commonplace in the United States, this tends to restrict U.S. agricultural exports to the EU.. EU sensitivities stem in part from commercial and cultural practices that are often embodied in EU laws and regulations and vary from those of the United States.. For food and agricultural products, such differences include regulatory and administrative differences between the United States and the EU on issues related to food safety and public healthâor Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs).. I n October 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officially notified the Congress, under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), of the Trump Administration's plans to enter into formal trade negotiations with the European Union (EU).. In March 2018, President Trump announced 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, including the EU, after a Section 232 investigation determined that these imports threaten U.S. national security.. In response, the EU began applying retaliatory tariffs of 25% on certain U.S. exports to the EU.. More formal discussions are expected in the spring of 2020âin an effort to ease trade tensions regarding the imposition of retaliatory tariffs.. Other differences include product naming schemes for some types of food and agricultural products subject to protections involving Geographical Indications (GIs).. Previously, in 2016, U.S.-EU negotiations as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) stalled after 15 rounds under the Obama Administration.. Renewed trade talks also come amid heightened U.S.-EU trade frictions.. SPS/TBT Issues

SPS measures are laws, regulations, standards, and procedures that governments employ as "necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health" from the risks associated with the spread of pests, diseases, or disease-carrying and causing organisms, or from additives, toxins, or contaminants in food, beverages, or feedstuffs.. Selected U.S.-EU Agricultural Trade Issues

In January 2019, USTR announced its negotiating objectives for a U.S.-EU trade agreement, following a public comment period and a hearing involving several leading U.S. agricultural trade associations.. Such GI protections also tend to restrict U.S. agricultural exports to the EU and to some other countries where such protections have been put in place.. Such differences have often been central to SPS and TBT disputes, including those involving the use of hormones in meat production and pathogen reduction treatments in poultry processing.. The United States has also opposed the EU's GI protections that govern product labeling on products within the EU and within some countries that have a formal trade agreement with the EU.. Then, in January 2020, public statements by U.S. and EU officials signaled the possibility that the U.S.-EU trade talks might include negotiation on SPS and regulatory barriers to agricultural trade.. These objectives include agricultural policiesâboth market access and non-tariff measures such as tariff rate quotas (TRQ) administration and other regulatory issues.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officially notified the Congress of the Trump Administration's plans to enter into formal trade negotiations with the European Union (EU) in October 2018. In January 2019, USTR announced its negotiating objectives for a U.S.-EU trade agreement, which included agricultural policiesâboth market access and non-tariff measures. However, the EU's negotiating mandate, released in April 2019, stated that the trade talks would exclude agricultural products.
U.S.-EU27 Agricultural Trade, 1990-201 9
Improving market access remains important to U.S. agricultural exporters, especially given the sizable and growing U.S. trade deficit with the EU in agricultural products (see figure). Some market access challenges stem in part from commercial and cultural practices that are often enshrined in EU laws and regulations and vary from those of the United States. For food and agricultural products, such differences are focused within certain non-tariff barriers to agricultural trade involving Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs), as well as Geographical Indications (GIs).
SPS and TBT measures refer broadly to laws, regulations, standards, and procedures that governments employ as "necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health" from the risks associated with the spread of pests and diseases, or from additives, toxins, or contaminants in food, beverages, or feedstuffs. SPS and TBT barriers have been central to some longstanding U.S.-EU trade disputes, including those involving EU prohibitions on hormones in meat production and pathogen reduction treatments in poultry processing, and EU restrictions on the use of biotechnology in agricultural production. As these types of practices are commonplace in the United States, this tends to restrict U.S. agricultural exports to the EU.
GI protections refer to naming schemes that govern product labeling within the EU and within some countries that have a formal trade agreement with the EU. These protections tend to restrict U.S. exports to the EU and to other countries where such protections have been put in place.
Plans for U.S.-EU trade negotiations come amid heightened U.S.-EU trade frictions. In March 2018, President Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on most U.S. trading partners after a Section 232 investigation determined that these imports threaten U.S. national security. Effective June 2018, the EU began applying retaliatory tariffs of 25% on imports of selected U.S. agricultural and non-agricultural products. In October 2019, the United States imposed additional tariffs on imports of selected EU agricultural and non-agricultural products, as authorized by World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement procedures in response to the longstanding Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute.
Public statements by U.S. and EU officials in January 2020, however, signaled that the U.S.-EU trade talks might include SPS and regulatory barriers to agricultural trade. Statements by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials cited in the press call for certain SPS issues as well as GIs to be addressed in the trade talks. However, other press reports of statements by EU officials have downplayed the extent that specific non-tariff barriers would be part of the talks. More formal discussions are expected in the spring of 2020.
Previous trade talks with the EU, as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations during the Obama Administration, stalled in 2016 after 15 rounds. During those negotiations, certain regulatory and administrative differences between the United States and the EU on issues of food safety, public health, and product naming schemes for some types of food and agricultural products were areas of contention.